Category

Biography

Prior to reading Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President, my knowledge of James A. Garfield was mostly limited to his accomplishments during the Civil War, namely as the Chief of Staff… Continue Reading →

Not knowing much about the celebrated entrepreneur, I was anxious to take on this highly acclaimed biography of the man behind PayPal, Tesla and SpaceX. Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance My… Continue Reading →

Having read all of the “Killing” series, with the exception of Killing Kennedy, I’ve found all of O’Reilly’s books to be enjoyable, informative and without “spin”. Being a Republican by tradition, my experiences through the Reagan years were some of… Continue Reading →

Douglas Brinkley’s biography of Walter Cronkite is like a nostalgic review of the events of my own life, beginning with the final year of Ike’s presidency. In fact, one episode of The Twenty-first Century with Walter Cronkite, contained a segment… Continue Reading →

The Wright Brothers had a prominent presence in my youth as our family lived in Dayton during my father’s years stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and our years in North Carolina where we would venture to the outer-banks and… Continue Reading →

It took me a few chapters to get accustomed to the author’s use of English, and after feeling a little perturbed, I did some online research, only to find that her usage is correct. Afterall, the author is an English… Continue Reading →

Though not the most well-written book I’ve read of late, and not extremely detailed about the still evolving life of Hillary Rodham Clinton, the real value of the book was personal, in that it reawakened feelings from those years, not… Continue Reading →

One of the very few authors I know of who can produce a one thousand page epoch that reads like a page-turning, overnight, pulp-fiction thriller, and that is David McCullough. You can always tell a good book when you begin to dread it as you near the end and become emotional over well-known events that happened decades ago.

Though still fairly prominent in America, the “Mellon Millions” have dissipated considerably over the years. My first Cannadine, Mellon: An American Life revitalizes the family name and chronicles not only Andrew’s life but recounts the lives of his father Thomas and grandfather Andrew, as they came to this country seeking to fulfill a dream. A dream which came to fruition and beyond.

Like American icons and Founding Fathers Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Franklin are linked to the period of the American Revolutionary War, Lincoln is associated with the horrific growing pains experienced during the American Civil War, however, Lincoln’s feats extend far beyond the boundaries of our own nation, transcending to global proportions.

My second Joseph Ellis, I’ve come to enjoy his ‘to the point’, ‘no frills’ style of writing. Though McCullough’s “John Adams”, which is cited by Ellis, provides a more in depth and detailed version of much of the same material, Ellis tells it in fewer words, which is not necessarily a bad thing.